BENGALURU: A 29-year-old woman’s house in Sampigehalli police limits in the city has been set ablaze by a man after she refused to marry him. The incident happened on April 11 and the accused was arrested on Tuesday.
In a complaint, Arbina Taj, the victim, stated that she works as a tailor and lives in a rented house at Masjid Fatima Layout in Saraipalya along with her husband Syed Azam and their four children.
The accused, identified as Arbaaz, 26, is a resident of Tannery Road. He has been pestering Taj for several months to marry him. Arbaaz is unemployed and has two wives.
Azam, who sells clothes in Shivajinagar, had warned Arbaaz several times to keep away from his wife. Despite this, Arbaaz used to frequently call Taj. This also led to fights between Taj and Azam.
On April 10, Arbaaz is said to have called Taj from a different number and fought with her. Taj and her husband went for Ramzan shopping the same night. Around 4 am on April 11, the accused called Azam and told him that he had set fire to his house. Taj’s children, who were on the ground floor of the house, called her and inform her about the blaze. When the couple rushed home, fire force personnel were dousing the blaze.
“The entire house has been destroyed. Initially it was suspected that an electrical short circuit might have triggered the fire. Officials from FSL, SOCO and electrical inspectorate visited the premises. When the police were probing the reasons for the blaze, Taj filed a complaint against Arbaaz on Monday, accusing him of setting fire to the house,” said a police officer.